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Endless delays in repairing culvert on Bennett Rd.

Seven years after it was damaged by flooding, a pedestrian path that runs across the top of the culvert has yet to be reopened.

A washed-out culvert with a pedestrian path that runs on top of it, at the foot of Bennett Rd., has been barricaded to foot traffic for so long that the fencing has turned rusty. (JACK LAKEY / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

However, we’re still getting complaints about it, which makes it the longest unresolved problem we’ve ever reported on.

Kelly Byrnes and Greg Furan have both posted updates about it on SeeClickFix, with Byrnes recently writing that “it’s ridiculous” the city hasn’t fixed it by now.

Most people wouldn’t get too worked up about repairing a culvert that sluices away storm water, but the problem is the pedestrian path that runs over top of the big pipe.

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The path connects Bennett to Coronation Dr. and serves as a handy shortcut for people who work in the industrial area on Coronation to get to the TTC stop at Bennett and Lawrence.

Except for two periods when temporary repairs to the culvert allowed the path to briefly be reopened, it has been barricaded ever since. But that hasn’t stopped some people from trampling the fence on both sides and skittering across it.

Furan noted last summer that “I have seen pedestrians (including one senior with his little dog) walking around the outside of the crumbling walkway to get through this area.

“This is a very dangerous alternative, but people continue to use it as a shortcut.”

STATUS: We asked the city to explain the delay, and for a repair timetable. The reply is not good news. Dan McGhee, an area roads superintendent, emailed to say “It is my understanding that the delay is due to the fact that an exposed elevated water main currently running across the watercourse will be replaced and buried below the water course or relocated in 2015, prior to the bundling scope of work to be performed. Once the water main has been completed, the culvert and pedestrian bridge will be re-established.” Ellen Leesti, who deals with media for Toronto Water, sent an email confirming that the water main replacement won’t get started until next year.

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